Mayor Bloomberg Was Biggest Obstacle To Snow Removal

Inaction and Delays by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as Deadly Blizzard Bore Down

The post-Christmas blizzard of 2010 stranded EMS, ambulances, and other rescue services in unplowed streets all across New York City, resulting in fire-related deaths and even the death of at least one baby.

Now comes The New York Times, which has reported that the Bloomberg administration did nothing to prepare for the deadly blizzard :

''At 3:58 a.m. on Christmas Day, the National Weather Service upgraded its alert about the snow headed to New York City, issuing a winter storm watch. By 3:55 p.m., it had declared a formal blizzard warning, a rare degree of alarm. But city officials opted not to declare a snow emergency — a significant mobilization that would have, among other things, aided initial snow plowing efforts.''

Finally, after a barrage of criticism, Mayor Bloomberg ''conceded that the city’s response to the blizzard had been inadequate,'' reported The New York Times.

What is the mayor going to do about all of the deaths that resulted from his gross neglect ?

Bloomberg Finds Himself Stuck In A Snowstorm of Criticism

''Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg admitted on Wednesday that his administration’s response to the blizzard that buried New York this week had been inadequate....''

Speaking at a hardware depot in Hunts Point, the Bronx, the mayor said he was “extremely dissatisfied” with the performance of the city’s emergency management system. He said the reaction to the snow as it accumulated was “a lot worse” than after other recent snowstorms and was not as efficient as “the city has a right to expect.”

Read the full article on The New York Times : Bloomberg Takes Blame for Response to Snowstorm.

Here are some critics of the Mayor's ''snow job'' in the aftermath of the post-Christmas blizzard :

• ''Lucky for King Mike Bloomberg, the press does not treat him the way they treated mayor John Lindsay,'' wrote Suzannah B. Troy.
• ''This is a SNOW JOB and there is no accountability, only excuses,'' wrote Bob Friedrich, President of the Glen Oaks Village, on the Queens Crap blog.
• ''40 Years Ago It Was The Lindsay Snow Storm, Today the Media Kid Gloves Shields Bloomberg From Blame,'' was the headline on True News From Change blog.

NYC Lacks Snow Removal Plan

Almost 2 days after Blizzard, Most of New York City Still in Need of Snow Removal.

New Yorkers are criticising New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sanitation Commissioner John J. Doherty for failing to have a swift plan to help remove the snow following the Blizzard of December 26-27, 2010. Here are two examples of what commuting was like in New York City in the aftermath of the post-Christmas Blizzard of 2010 :

Subway commuters crawl up the unsafe stairs of a subway station.

Photo credit : Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

A photographer for The New York Times documented an ambulance, which had become stuck in the snow on 98th Street near Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. East 98th Street definitely looks like it could have needed snow removal trucks to create safer driving conditions.

Photo credit : James Estrin/The New York Times

The Times reported added that critics of the snow removal are making charges that some neighborhoods are being favoured over others, whilst some of the unsafe conditions being created as a result of the slow snow removal could be a result of the mayor's draconian budget cuts.

On Monday, Peter F. Vallone Jr., a City Council member who represents Astoria, Queens, said his neighborhood was being treated poorly.

“The only plow I saw all day was the one that crashed into the corner near my house,” said Mr. Vallone, who added that the Council’s public safety committee, which he leads, would hold a hearing on the city’s handling of the storm.

“We need an explanation,” Mr. Vallone said. “Is it budget cuts? Is it a lack of planning? What caused this storm to be different from every other one we’ve lived through?”

Snow Removal FAIL Viral YouTube

NYC Sanitation Workers Destroy an SUV - SNOW REMOVAL FAIL #Snowpocalypse

New York City workers destroy a Ford Explorer trying to free a snowbound front-loader in Brooklyn Heights, New York, after the post-Christmas Blizzard of 2010.

Somebody in City Hall has to take accountability for each of this accident and for the larger failure of the city to be prepared to clear the snow from the streets following the blizzard.